


Little Girl Lost

by Neebsandtatties



Category: Fallout - Fandom, Fallout 3
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And I hope you hate her too because she's a short ass brat, And takes advantage of the lone wanderer, Because of Reasons, Burke is a nuclear sugar daddy, Canon Compliant, Emotional Manipulation, Extremely Dubious Consent, F/M, I hate my own lone wanderer okay, James doesn't die because of reasons, Legion!Burke, Sexual Content, Talking Pip-Boy, Unhealthy Relationships, also Tachikomas, bratty teenager lone wanderer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2018-07-25 18:19:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7543054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neebsandtatties/pseuds/Neebsandtatties
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex's father was her whole world. She couldn't imagine her life without him - silly beard and all. When he suddenly disappears from the Vault without a word, she sets out to find him only to become tangled up with the worst that the Wasteland has to offer - a bad man with a silver tongue and a bone to pick with Megaton.  </p><p>*Originally Published on FF.net under "Fallout 3: The Wayward Soldier". Lots of twists and tweaks to the main quest storyline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape Velocity

**Author's Note:**

> I first wrote this when I was 16 and then last year I decided to go back and clean everything up so some of you might recognise this from FF.net. It's still me, Fire Kunai, but I just tend to use this website more so I figured that my fallout stuff should be here too.

> Don't you want to feel like a rebel
> 
> Renegade on the run?
> 
> Real live wire in the cross fire ridin' shotgun
> 
> Not talkin' 'bout a deal with the devil
> 
> I said nothin' about sellin' your soul
> 
> Call it what you will
> 
> If you start to feel out of control."

**\- Draughty "Renegade** "

* * *

"Dad? I'm home!" Alex sounded off as the owner slid the door shut, leaning down to unlace her boots. Nimble hands unclipped the tool belt bucket around her stomach, letting it drop to the ground with a heavy thud. A metal vomit of Screwdrivers, wrenches and various nuts and bolts spilled out at the front door but the young woman had neither the energy to care nor the patience to pretend otherwise.

"In here sweetie!" Her father called from the living room.

Alex padded through to the sterile longue to find her father collecting up several bunches of yellowed paper from the coffee table, shuffling them out of sight. Alex didn't know why he bothered hiding them. It was not as if she were adept at understanding anything biological or chemical. He may as well have written all his notes in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

With a sigh, Alex sunk into an armchair opposite him. Her father smiled over at her and the gesture seemed to lift the age from around his eyes and forehead. "Hello sweetie. Have a good day?"

She made a noise in her throat in displeasure. The throbbing headache from earlier had yet to recede, leaving her mood fractious and irritable. "About as good as you can get shifting through ten years of shoddy wiring," she remarked, not bothering to hide her irritation.

Her father suppressed a sigh and eyed her carefully. "Wished you had taken the G.O.A.T seriously now?" he asked, reproachfully.

Alex snorted in response, pulling a pair of old leather gloves off and trying her best to ignore the scars that marked her palms and fingertips. She wished she had nice hands like Amata. "That's a laugh. How seriously can I take a test that has 'The Overseer' as an only possible answer?"

A grunt of agreement followed. "I guess you're right. Still, try and make the best of it honey."

She stretched out in the armchair, relishing being off her feet for the first time in six hours. "Mom is not going to haunt you now is she?" Alex asked.

"No need. Her daughter is an engineer. Hardly a garbage burner,"

She let out a short, humourless laugh. "I'm just a glorified grease monkey and you know it."

A low chuckle escaped her father's chest and he reached under the coffee table, fumbling about for something. A faded box of Fancy Lad cakes found its way onto Alex unexpectant lap. The pain from between her shoulders eased immediately. "Here you are sweetie. Came in this week's rations."

And just like that, her bad mood was squashed. The furrows on her brow disappeared and instead she smiled for the first time since the primarily coolant conduit had blown that morning.

"This a feeble old man's attempt to cheer me up?" She asked, bursting the packaging. The Vault's doctor chuckled and nudged his daughter with a booted foot.

"I would hardly call myself 'feeble'" the man countered.

Alex dug into the powdered cake, raising her eyebrows at her father. "So you aren't denying you're old," she commented amicably. Alex did love him so. No one else could even come close. After all, he was the only remaining family she had left. James Halsey was weathered but tidy, with black hair threaded with silver and grey. His shoulders slumped like he was carrying a great burden upon them (She wanted to believe it was simply old age but she knew better by now) His face was stamped with kindness and compassion; the very picture of an friendly, family doctor, but his eyes hid a kind of resigned regret. Alex had spent years trying to work out the mistakes hid behind those thoughtful green eyes. She had yet to succeed.

"How are the repairs on the Vault filtration system coming along?"

Alex's face pinched into a frown. "Not at all. I'm off the project now anyway. Lewis is handling it so I doubt we'll see it finished before the next ice age," Alex explained, looking as if she had just bitten into a lemon.

Her father quirked an eyebrow. "What did you do Alex?" he questioned.

"Nothing! Really!" She protested, though it would do her little good and she knew that. Her father knew her too well for that.

"I know when you are lying to me Alex." The said girl winced at the warning in his tone.

"I may have been involved in a workplace related incident," she answered, not bothering to elaborate further. She didn't need to. It was an all too familiar story – and often argument – in their household.

As she expected, her father released a pent up sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The gesture irritated her more than it should of. "Getting into fights again? Honestly Alex, when are you going to grow up?"

Alex felt herself inwardly coil up, like a rattlesnake ready to strike. "It wasn't my fault, Christine provoked me; acting like she's such hot shit since she got the assistants job."

Her father gave her a very hard look indeed, one that immediately put her back up. "It's never your fault is it? You can't get away with this anymore Alex. The Overseer with end up putting you down in the brig for good."

She shrugged in an insolent manner that she knew would upset her father. Tough titties she thought to herself. He upset her first. "You say that like it's supposed to be a threat."

"Oh Alex don't start..." Her father said wearily.

The young woman ignored his comment, not caring in the slightest how rude it was. "It would be an improvement! I don't know why the Overseer even bothers letting me work at all. He's always complaining to Lewis that my work is substandard, that I skip corners."

"Honey, you're overreacting again-" There her father went, trying to be mister reasonable. All it did was irk her. Anger bubbled up her throat and spilled into her words.

"He doesn't trust me dad."

Her father sighed again. "Of course he trusts you," he insisted, yet he didn't meet her eyes. "Why wouldn't he?"

"I don't know Dad. It's just a feeling I get," she said, her fingers curling into tight fists. "He's always looking at me like I'm up to no good. He gives me more stick than he does Butch, and Butch is the man who painted a giant dick on his door just for a giggle."

Her father frowned again and she felt her thinly leashed temper flare again. He was going to take the Overseers side again. What a shock. "Sweetie, we have been over this already. This Vault…I know you don't like it but it's a safe place. And I know you don't like the Overseer but he's doing his best for the vault."

"By making me feeling like an outsider? Because that really makes me feel like one of the team," Alex fired back.

"Alex," he said, a touch more sharply. "You know what I mean."

She scowled at him. How typical of her father to take the side of the Overseer. He always did. "Yeah, alright, I get it."

Suddenly, she didn't want to sit with her father anymore. "I'm supposed to be on the early shift tomorrow so I'm going to bed," she stated. It was too early for bed, yet she wanted her father to know he had upset her. She flounced off the chair and started towards her sleeping quarters.

"Alright…Goodnight sweetie. Sleep well," said her father behind her, sounding so old and weary that it startled her and stopped her dead in her tracks.

She studied him, properly, for the first time she had arrived home. She felt her anger towards him deflate almost immediately, as it almost always did after she had a strop. He appeared pale with red rings under his eyes as if he had been weeping moments before she had arrived him. Her stomach knotted uncomfortably, like a bad cramp. How could she have missed it? "Are you okay Dad?"

Her father gave a drained smile that didn't meet his eyes. "I'm fine Alex, just very tired. Go to bed sweetie. You've got an early start tomorrow remember?"

Alex swallowed down a protest. She had pushed him enough tonight. And it was likely he was just missing her mom again. He seemed to be missing her more as of late. "Goodnight dad. See you in the morning."

Her father hesitated a moment before answering. Clearly he was more tired than he let on. "Goodnight sweetie. Sleep well."

Weary and eager to get the day over with, Alex left her father in the living room and trotted through to her dark bedroom. She flicked on a rusted lamp and hauled a hand through her russet coloured hair. It had been freshly cut into a choppy yet feminine style and she loved running her hands through it even when her fingers were dirty with machine oil. Her hair style was the only remotely feminine aspect about her. She was short and often mistaken fifteen year old boy with an effeminate hairdo rather than a nineteen year old woman. Her nose was smaller and she had thicker eyelashes but the whole, she was very boyish looking.

It was terribly depressing.

Alex flopped down onto the standard issue Vault bed and yawned in a very unladylike manner. Alex did not even bother getting changed out of her jumpsuit, only kicked her boots off onto the floor for her father to trip over when he woke her up in the morning. A twenty minute lecture on picking up after herself never failed to wake her up properly. Her father complained about how untidy her room was but other than the boxes of electrical supplies and cables stacked up in the corner, there was very little in the room to indicate that someone lived there. A patchwork quilt was spread across the bed, faded now with age. On the small table sat – iron like everything else in the room- with a few knick knacks spread across the surface including a vault boy bobble head, a set of allan keys, a pack of bubblegum and a handful of cosmetics.

In the furthest corner was a Vault-tec standard desk. A Pip-Boy 3000 sat on the surface; glowing a bright luminous green while "he" underwent maintenance. Over the past few years, the Pip-Boys had been undergoing a full maintenance reconfiguration which included an enhanced V.A.T.S and artificial intelligence integration. Every Pip-Boy had a unique personality that was found in no other device. Some part of Alex could not quite get over the fact that her Pip-Boy could talk. She was not used to her hardware answering back. That really wasn't supposed to happen.

Still, at least her Pip-Boy didn't think too much of the Overseer and it was something she took comfort in as she flopped onto her bed. She'd come to enjoy having him jabber in her ear and the day seemed to have been even longer without hanging about on her wrist. Tomorrow they would go back to sharing private jokes at the Overseers expense and her dad would be cheerful again.

* * *

It wasn't long before Alex drifted off to sleep. Through the early hours of the morning and into the late morning she slept. The wakeup-call came not from her father telling her off for leaving her boots at her ass but instead her wide eyed, frantic friend Amata.

She blinked at her friend, still dazed from sleep. Didn't she realise it was in the middle of the night? "Amata? Why are you in my room so early?" Alex asked, her eyes adjusting to the harsh halogen lights.Usually, The Overseer's Daughter looked neat and tidy at every minute of every day as an example to the other dwellers. Today, she looked rumpled, frantic and messy.

How weird.

"Hurry Alex! You've got to get up! Your father is gone! And my father is looking for you," Amata explained quickly, grasping the brunette's hand pulling Alex and her comforter from the bed.

She blinked, staring at her friend. Gone? Gone where? Gone to work early? He always did that. "What do you mean he's gone? Has he gone to work early?"

Amata shook her head, her eyes wide and fearful. "No! He's gone gone. He's Left the Vault and my father...well he's kinda gone crazy," she explained frantically as she picked up random supplies strewn across the bedroom, shoving them into an old leather backpack that had obviously seen better days.

Alex felt as if a bucket of water had been dumped over her. Immediately she sobered up from sleep. "Amata, I've never seen you this upset before. What the hell happened?"

A strangled, choking sound escaped Amata. "It's Jonas! They killed him! My father's men, they took him and...I'm so sorry, I should have done something…" she sobbed, her dark knuckles turning white.

The blood drain from Alex's cheeks. She shook her head, trying to convince her hammering heart that it was all a horrible, horrible dream and that any moment now she would wake up to her father's endearing nagging. Any moment now she would wake up to reality where her father was still in the Vault and sweet, dorky Jonas was waiting for him in the clinic.

Yet nothing happened. Alex opened her mouth several times to try form a coherent sentence and found that her tongue couldn't function properly.

"It's not your fault Amata…" Alex sucked in a breath. "It's not your fault," she repeated again, a little stronger this time. She had to get control of her voice.

Amata's throat jerked as she swallowed down a sob. "I know. I'm just sorry you had to find out like this. I know Jonas was your friend," her friend replied, fingering the leather bag in her grasp. "Listen, I know it's not any of my business but did your dad say anything to you about leaving?" Amata asked carefully, her tone cautious.

"No…He never said a word about it. And he wouldn't have left me behind if he could help it," Alex replied, though her words sounded hollow and stupid now. She eyed the bag in Amata's hand. "You going somewhere?"

Amata shook her dark haired head and pushed the bag into her hands.

"Not me, you."

Alex nearly dropped the bag. "Me?!"

"I'm sorry, but I think you should follow your father. It's not safe for you here now."

"What? No-Amata."

Amata's fingers were suddenly in her shoulders, and Alex almost winced as she felt Amata's nails dig into her jumpsuit. "Alex, listen to me. It's really not safe for you here. I've never seen my father so crazy with anger. I'm scared for you. You have to go."

Alex nodded, unable to trust herself to do anything else. "But how do I get out?"

"Listen, I have a plan."

"Let's hear it."

"In my father's office, there is an underground tunnel that leading right up to the door. You'll need to break into the office and hack the terminal. There are some bobby pins in the back pocket of that bag, that's how I always get in, along with some others things I think you would need for the outside. Oh, and here is my father's pistol. You'll probably need it more than him"

"Okay." Alex took three deep breaths to calm herself, counting to five each time. It had helped in the past with her temper and it seemed to help even now. The pressure that gripped her chest seemed to lessen. "Thanks Amata. What would I do without you?"

Amata smiled tightly. "Fail every class ever. Now go. I'll try and meet you at the entrance but don't wait for me. Good luck."

With that, she gave her one last fleeting smile before disappearing from the room through a ventilation shaft Alex didn't even realise she had.

For a moment, she simply stood and felt too afraid to take another breath, much less move. In the distance, the scream of the alarm bells resounding throughout the halls. Alex's stomach clenched hard; tying itself into a pretzel. Distant shouts ricocheted through the vents, amplifying the sound tenfold. She had never heard such chaos before.

It was terrifying.

Finally, she found it in her to move. She reached over for her charging Pip-boy and buckled him against her wrist with trembling fingers. There was something reassuring about having him on her person. The device stirred and the screen began to glow a bright emerald green as he booted up.

" _Hmm? What's the craic jack?"_ The voice of her Pip-Boy asked, his Scottish accent heavy upon his synthesized voice.

With her mouth fixed into a frown, Alex darted out the door; her steps light and agile against the metal floor plating. "Dad has left the Vault and the Overseer has started a witch hunt. We're leaving. Now" she said as she stepped out of the small Vault-tec apartment she had lived in her entire life. The halls were surprisingly empty despite the blaring sirens that rocketed through the corridors. Biting her lower lip, she peeked around the bulkhead. A single security guard stood in the hall, dressed in standard issue Vault-Tec jumpsuit with a flakjacket strapped to his torso. He looked straight up ready for war. Hell, she didn't even recognise who it was under the visor.

" _So we're going for a little jaunt about the wasteland?  Fucking magic. I've been gettin' cramps from livin' in this bloody bucket,"_ The Pip-boy remarked from his position on her wrist, a little too loudly for his own good. Alex groaned as the officer spun around and raised his weapon.

"Hey! There she is! Alex! Don't you move!" the security guard suddenly hollered. He opened his mouth to yell something else, only for his shouts to suddenly be drowned out by the scuttling of insect legs against metal. A squad of synchronized Radroaches swept down the corridor. Alex would have smiled if she hadn't felt as if her heart was about to burst from her chest. They were adequate distraction.

While the swarm attacked the security guard, the young woman darted forward. She jumped over several roaches and ran right past the distracted security guard, not bothering to look back. He would be fine. Radroaches were easy to take care of and the security training provided by the Vault was not completely useless.

She had just turned the corner when Butch almost colided straight into her, his eyes wide with uncharacteristic fear.

Alex's hand fumbled for the pistol Amata had given her and managed to pull it from its holster. The gun felt odd in her hand, as if it didn't really belong there. "Out of the way Butch. I don't have time for your shit. In case you've haven't noticed, Security are after me," Alex snared, gesturing with her 10mm pistol at him. The pistol was unfamiliar and heavy in her hands. She tightened her grip on the pistol to keep her hands from shaking.

To her immense surprise, Butch raised his hands as a peaceful gesture and it was enough to cause her to relax. What had gotten him so spooked?

"You have to help me! My mum is trapped in there with the Radroaches!"

Alex wouldn't quite believe her ears. "Why the fuck would I help you? You've given me such shit over the years." Was this truly happening? Today of all days?

Butch swallowed and glanced back at the door to his home. "Look, I know I have been a jerk to you and I'm sorry."

Alex would have laughed had she not been so inwardly terrified. "You're apologising now?! Seriously? Sorry isn't going to cut it Butch, not after kicking the shit out of me for years."

"Look I know I've given you some crap but please, help me! If not for me but for my mom! She didn't do anything to you," Butch countered, his voice breaking slightly.

She gave herself a shake, wondering if she had stumbled into an alternate reality where Butch actually made sense.

"Alright Butch, but I'm doing this for your mom. Not for you," Alex ground out, and it was a slight relief to lower the pistol.

Butch sighed with obvious relief and gestured to his living room for her to follow. "Hurry, we gotta help her."

"I can't believe I'm even helping you when the Overseer is after me."

"And I can't believe I'm even asking you. Lifes full of disappoints babe," Butch retorted, but his expression was hard and worried.

Like the home of Alex, it felt sterile and empty; devoid of life expect for the scratching and scuttling from the next room coupled with painful cries. The Pip-boy on her wrist, who had been silent since giving away their position, finally spoke up.

" _Aye, targets confirmed. Three Radroaches and the old baggage from the looks of it,"_ he piped up. As she reached for the doorway switch, Alex readied her pistol. The door slid open with a groan and she darted into the room. As the Pip-Boy had predicted, three large Radroaches were attacking Butch's mother; shells gleaming under the fluorescent lighting.

" _Now?"_

"Yes, now"

She blinked once and suddenly the cold rush of the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System flooded into her system. Time came to a complete halt; freezing the Roaches with it. A translucent shine of neon green seeped over her vision as several lines of code suddenly ran across her sight. She felt a vibration at the back of her skull as the Pip-Boy connected its frequency into her brain wave patterns; displaying the status and position of the roaches across her vision. Percentages of probable hits shot up across the young woman's blurred sight.

Alex fired.

The roaches exploded.

A round of bullets hammered through each of the rock hard outer shell of the Radroaches; cracking through the protective brown shell and painting the floor white with various internal organs.

Breathing hard, Alex turned to see Butch appear through the doorway.

"We did it! My mom is going to be okay!"

She managed a very hard, tight smile as the V.A.T.S faded away. "You're welcome by the way" Alex replied breathlessly, her hands pressed against her thighs and adrenaline thumping in her throat.

As she struggled to find her breath again, Butch wriggled out of his patented leather jacket. "I know it's not much but here, take my jacket," Butch said happily, holding his jacket out to her.

Well then.

That stumped her. "You sure?" Alex asked, forgetting that she was criminal in her own home for just a moment. Butch wouldn't be seen dead without his jacket.

"Yeah, take it." Butch cracked a grin. "To be honest I've always wondered what you might have looked like in it."

Alex reached out and grabbed a fistful of leather before he changed his mind. It would be an out and out lie to say that she wasn't the least bit curious to know what she looked like in it as well. "Damn it this day is getting weird."

"Ain't that the truth sister." There was another sudden burst of noise from somewhere in the vault. Butch's brow scrunched with concern again. "Anyway, you better go quick before this side gets locked down."

She squinted at him. "I swear to god Butch, you better not dob me in."

Butch looked deeply offended at the thought. "Hey, I ain't no nark. The Overseer won't get shit out of me about you, I swear on my mom's life." he said with a boyish grin as he nudged her towards the door. "Stay safe out there Shrimp. Don't get eaten."

"Fuck you," she replied, and it suddenly occurred to her that it was perhaps the most amicable conversation they'd had in nineteen years. Butch laughed as his apartment door slid shut and suddenly, she felt alone and afraid again. Alex held the jacket up. It was still warm from Butch's body heat, and felt soft and supple unlike her own faux leather jacket.

She found herself tugging it regardless. No time to wrestle it into a too-small bag. She needed to move, and move quickly if she hoped to survive the next thirty minutes.

Alex rounded another corner, practically skidding down the hallway and losing her footing in her haste. She zipped straight through the canteen and came across the body of Grandma Taylor. 

She stumbled against the bulkhead as her lungs seemed to shrink in her chest. Old lady Taylor had always been kind to her. Why was she dead? What had she done to anyone? Alex wiped tears she didn't know she had shed on the cuff of her new tunnel snake jacket. She'd cry it all out later if she lived.

She ran straight through the Atrium and up onto the upper Atrium level; storing bullets in three roaches and impacting her boot on a fourth as she passed. Two of the security doors were locked so she rounded onto the third, relieved to find it open. She ducked through the arched hallways. It wasn't until the bright lights from the consoles poked her in the eye did Alex realise that she was standing in the middle of the maintenance department; her stomping ground.

Alex started to move when she suddenly found herself halting in her tracks.

The frozen face of Floyd Lewis stared back at her.

Suddenly, her legs didn't feel like hers anymore and Alex found herself reaching for the wall again to stop herself from collasping. A fist wedged itself tight into her throat and she felt tears. "No, no no fuck son of a bitch," Alex heaved. Lewis had been her boss, her friend since she had shown up after taking G.O.A.T test. As she fought back the tears, his voice filtered into her head and made it hurt all over again. _Hey can you reach in and unscrew that for me? You've got nice small hands Alex_. _Oh don't give me that look you know its true._

She crouched down next to him, observing the large, bloody lump what should have been his eye. The right lens in his glass had been completely shattered. "Oh god, What did they do to you?" As she checked his body for the master key for the supply room, it was a struggle not to scream. She reached for his lucky sunglasses, wanting, needing something to remember him by.

Her fingers coiled back inches from the frames.

No, she couldn't take his glasses.

He wasn't Lewis without them.

Instead she turned her attention to the small box next to his body and cracked it open with his master keys. In his toolbox, she grabbed the scrap metal, a wrench and a paint gun before continuing on her way. "I'll put em to good use, I promise," Alex said with a voice that didn't sound like hers.

Like Old lady Taylor, she'd cry for him later too.

 

The crawl through the Vault was exhausting, draining. Alex thought herself fit from three years of hauling cables around but fear made everything harder, made her fight for every breath.

As she stopped to get her breath, she heard the voice of Amata over the wailing emergency sirens. Alex inched and peered through a nearby glass window. Inside was the Chief security officer, The Overseer and Amata. From the look of the situation, Alex could only guess that they were interrogating her and it chilled the sweat on her skin.

"I told you! I don't know!"

"Now Amata, I know you helped her."

"She is my friend! I had to!" Amata cried in desperation.

"But would she do the same for you? Please Amata, don't make this any more painful that it already is. I just want to have a talk with her."

"I swear she hasn't done anything. She wouldn't! You know she wouldn't!"

The sudden thump of fist upon flesh was unmistakable - coupled with Amata's yelp of pain.

Rage sunk fangs into her hard and fast. Alex down at her pistol; or rather Amata's father's pistol. There was not nearly enough ammo to take three security officers down. Heck, not even enough for one. Too much ammo had been wasted on the Radroaches thanks to her crap shots. She couldn't take them all on. She simply didn't have the ammo for it, and they could physically over power her easily.

_Oh God oh god oh god._

Then came the cooling sensation of her Pip-Boy in her head. _'Alex, pet we have to go.'_

_'I can't leave her! Don't ask me to do that'_

_'Pet we have to. We can't help her right now. You know that.'_

He was right.

And she knew he was right.

Alex let out a strangled hiss through clenched teeth and ran straight forward; each step like the twist of a rusty knife in her gut. "I'm sorry Amata. I'm so sorry," she hissed as she ran. Her heart hammered. Her lungs burned. Large, fat tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto Butch's jacket. "I'm so sorry." She couldn't help Amata.

And she hated herself for it.

She had been so wrapped up in grief that she didn't even realise she had arrived in the administration complex until her boot was suddenly slipping in something wet.The still body of Jonas lay on the ground, a pool of scarlet seeping out from beneath him.

Alex's hands shot up, clamping over her mouth to hold in the scream as she stared down at him. Glassy stared back at her from behind thick, coke bottle frame. He looked so frightened. He had died frightened.

Poor Jonas.

Poor sweet Jonas.

Her legs buckled and Alex found herself sinking down next to him, trying desperately to hold herself together. "I'm sorry Jonas, fuck I'm so sorry," she hiccuped.

"Shhh it's alright pet. It's not your fault."

But it felt like it. Everything felt like her fault, and she didn't why.

She reached out to gently closed his eyelids shut with trembling fingers. As she retracted her hand, she noticed a holotape peeked out of his pocket, the crude sticky label addressed to her. She recognised the writing immediately.

It was her father's neat print.

She reached out and took the tape and stuffed it into her jumpsuit pocket. She'd deal with that later, when she didn't feel as if she were about to crack into a thousand pieces.

"Pet, we need to get going."

"Yeah, I know." She glanced at Jonas again and took a deep, calming breath. "I'm so sorry Jonas."

~

After quickly picking the lock on the door but snapping all but three bobby pins, She entered the Overseers office - half expecting to see him on the other side. But his office was empty. Maybe it was just as well. Alex didn't think she had it in her to fight anymore.

She closed the door behind her, jamming a spanner into the locking mechanism in hope it would buy some time if needed. A quick raid for the locker near his desk revealed the password for the computer, one and twenty 10mm rounds and a pack of Mentats.

" _Pop me in, I'll see I can't download some of the information from his console,"_ her Pip-boy suddenly asked in his synthesised voice, causing her heart to jump in surprise.

"Geez, gave me a heart attack why don't you," Alex replied breathlessly, pulling out the connection cables from the top of the Pip-Boy and slotting him into the union ports.

The screen of her Pip-boy flared up in response as data trafficked back and forth inside his circuits. "Find anything useful?"

" _Aye. There isn't much here but I've stored what I can. Let's get that door jacket and get the fuck out of this mad house,"_ he remarked, bright green text scrolling across the screen. Alex opened up the Overseer's file and clicked on the Overseer's Tunnel. A low rumble vibrated from beneath her feet then the desk behind her became animated so suddenly that she jumped again. The platform rose up for another few seconds before it came to an abrupt halt.

 _"I'm done. Unplug me,"_ Her Pip-boy whirled. She unplugged the device and fed the hacking cables back into their slots.

"Let's go then." 

Alex ducked into the tunnel and flicked another small switch, following dimly glowing lights right down to the depths of the tunnel. She met one or two Radroaches along the way and implanted a bullet in each; her pistol fresh with ammo. She came to the control room for the vault and she rested for a moment; fatigue burning at her throat. The air was sterile and almost tasted stale on her tongue and the chilling atmosphere of the room put Alex in mind of a crypt.

The Vault door was cut in the shape of a giant gear and sunk a good few feet into the wall; accessed by a control panel nearby. She turned to the console and activated the Vault's entrance. The door whirled to life and screamed in protest at being open a second time that day. Compressed air spilled out from the gaps as the Vault door slid forward with a long, crunching sound. It was quite unlike anything she had seen nor heard before that Alex couldn't help herself but stare.

Alex had been too enraptured to notice Amata suddenly appear next to her like she had just popped out of the ground.

"You did it! You really did it!" Amata cried happily.

Alex swallowed the lump of guilt balled up in her throat. How could she even look Amata in the eye after leaving her behind like that? "God I couldn't have done it without your help Amata."

Amata shook her hair, more locks coming free from her usually neat ponytail. "No, you didn't need me. If anyone can survive out there, it will be you." So certain did she sound that Alex almost believed her for a moment. Her eyes were suddenly drawn to the pansy bruise blooming on Amata's cheek, vibrant against her dark skin. "Amata…I'm sorry I-"

Her words were cut short as Amata reached out and gave her arm a squeeze. "It's okay, I understand. Listen, If you ever find your dad out there, tell him I'm sorry; for Jonas, for the Vault, for everything…You'll be okay out there. I know you'll be okay."

So certain was she that Alex almost believed her. "Why don't you come with me?"

The dark hair girl shook her head again. "No Alex, I belong here. This is my home. I'll be damned if my father thinks he can chase me out."

"I'll miss you," Alex said, her voice breaking. She could feel the tears threatening to spill again.

"Goodbye Alex. I'll miss you too. Be careful out there, and don't fight with anyone bigger than you."

She managed a giggle, but it was a horrible sound even to her own ears. "That leaves out nearly everyone. I'm like four foot nothing."

"Exactly."

They stared at each other until Alex's vision blurred with tears. She wasn't sure what more she could say then Amata reached over and enveloped her friend in a tight hug. Alex pressed her nose against Amata's neck. She hadn't been able to help her friend when it mattered most yet still Amata cared. Or perhaps it was just a habit to care. Either way, Alex returned the favour and held onto her friend tightly, committing Amata's smell and feel to memory one last time. "Now, go!" Amata urged, breaking the embrace and pushing her friend towards the exit.

Two security guards rushed through the door, shoving Amata roughly to the side. Alex turned and sprinted straight out the door as quickly as her short legs could carry her, stumbling slightly as if she were drunk. The security officers did not pursue, and hung back at the entrance. Alex took another few steps back only to see the horrifying sight of the door to Vault 101 sliding shut with another deafening screech.

The home she had known for nineteen years disappeared right in front of her.

Her legs gave weight beneath her and she buckled in the middle of the dusty, dark tunnel.

There was a howl in the tunnel, so sad and angry and haunted. It took Alex a moment to realise it was her, and that she was crying all over again. All the grief and the loss poured out of her, sobs wracking her frame. If the Overseer could see her, she did not care in the slightest.

Her Pip-Boy whirled to life, illuminating the tunnel with familiar, comforting green light. _"Get it all out. It's okay. We are goin' to be okay. I promise,"_ he said softly.

A minute passed, then ten, before Alex could finally summon up the energy to move. Admittedly she felt much much better after a good sob. She edged her way up the tunnel. The terrain felt uneven beneath her boots.

At the end of the tunnel was a battered door. She could feel thin stripes of light cutting through into the dusty tunnel. "Are you ready?"

_"Fuck no."_

"Me neither."

She pushed the door open and the hinges gave way. Nothing could have prepared her for just how much the light suddenly hurt. A yelp of pain escaped her and instinctively, Alex threw her gloved hand up over her burning eyes. She had not expected the outside sunlight to be so piercing, so bright and hot.

"Oh my god," she hissed, her eyes still covered. "Why?!" God she hadn't been the least bit ready for that.

 _"Jesus Christ the temperature readings out here are mental. Keep her eyes shut pet and let yourself ease into it,"_ whirled her Pip-Boy. _"That was a bad move."_

Alex scowled as she kept her eyes shielded. "Yeah you fucking think?" Through squinted eyes, she slowly allowed her sheltered eyes to adjust to the light of the wasteland. Dark dots swirled in her eyes but it didn't hurt so much anymore. Nearby there was a sign reading _Scenic Overlook_ in faded white print. Someone must have done that on purpose just for a laugh.

For a moment, Alex just stared out at the horizon. "Oh god," she whispered. Rubble littered the landscape; a patchwork of tragedy upon the worn quilt of a landscape. The Nuclear war had completely devastated the land, leaving behind husks of empty cities and former shells of townships. Roughly to the west, Alex could vaguely make out a great tower just peeking over the landscape and to the southeast jutted large collection of scrape.

"Is there anyone even alive out here?"

 _"The files I found from that fat prat's computer suggests there is,"_ said her Pip-Boy. Alex felt a swell of hope under her breastbone. Perhaps humanity had managed to survive even now. The thought alone quelled some of the anxiety in her stomach. The idea of being alone was deeply unsettling.

With trembling fingers she removed the leather jacket, unzipped her jumpsuit and secured the arms around her waist tightly like she would a fleece or jumper. The last thing she wanted to do was get sun stroke so early in the game from overheating in the wasteland. She heaved the sack higher upon her back and set off down the slope towards the hunk of metal marring the landscape; taking care not to trip on the way down. Her legs weren't entirely steady yet.

Heat beat down from the sky relentlessly and Alex wiped her damp brow. She had been walking – more like stumbling for a good one hour so, listening to the stolen downloads from the Overseer's computer.

"So, what's the deal out here? Is there anyone even out here?"

 _"Aye, looks like there's a settlement to the southeast,"_ replied her Pip-Boy. _"Place called 'Megaton'."_

"Megaton huh. Maybe Dad went there."

_"I'll set our course then. Keeping heading southeast, should just be over that rise."_

"How did the Overseer know this?"

_"Sent teams out before you were born."  
_

Alex tumbled over a rock. "So it wasn't always sealed huh?"

_"Aye, looks like it."_

"Damn I had prewar money I should have brought out with me."

_"Ach apparently it's useless. They use caps out here."_

"Caps. As in...bottle caps?"

_"It's the wasteland currency."_

A breathless, almost hysterical laugh escaped her. "Fuck I've been throwing caps away for years."

 _"Aye and think if you'd kept them we'd be minted as fuck."_ Her Pip-Boy buzzed again. _"Pet, we're almost to Megaton."_

"Thank god. I'm so thirsty."

 

* * *

Alex swiftly came to the conclusion that she did not like Megaton one bit.

Once she got over the amazement of a town being built around an active Atomic Bomb, the town was a lot to be desired. The place appeared to be dark even in the daylight, smelly with very little in the way of shops and retail. The workmanship was substandard and poor; thick ropes of cables hanging freely here and the walls were crudely welded together with scrap metal. The walkways were in complete disrepair, a good few having to be closed off completely. The houses, no shacks, were just like the residents who resided in them – bleak and hopeless. People within Megaton kept to themselves and were uncooperative, surly and suspicious of outsiders.

Alex stopped abruptly and surveyed the area, feeling overwhelming disappointment. If her father had been planning an extensive trip, surely he wouldn't have passed through this "Megaton" before setting off. It didn't look as if they had anything at all he might have needed.

"Well hot damn, we've got us a Vault Dweller."

Alex turned, her body tense.

A good natured but weathered man stood behind her. He was old, with a thick beard and dark skin as wrinkled as a baked potato left under the heat for too long. He was dressed in an overcoat, sporting an old cowboy hat that had obviously seen better days and a pointed silver star was pinned to his chest.

"Lucas Simms, Vault girl. Pleasure to meet you," The old cowboy greeted.

Alex swallowed, finding her voice at last. "Lucas Simms…Are you a security guard or something?" Alex asked, nodding towards the star stapled to his chest.

"Well, I try to bring law to a lawless town so yes. You're not here to cause trouble are you?" He eyed her suspiciously.

She smiled for the first time since leaving the Vault. "I don't cause trouble I just have a lot of disagreements."

He laughed, and it was a rich, warm sound that reminded her of her father. "You seem like a nice kid so I'll let you off with that one. If you need information, you give me a holler."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

Alex took a deep breath. "Have you seen my father? He's about fifty and has a silly beard. He's from a vault like me so he'd probably stick out like a sore thumb."

Lucas Simms scratched his own rough beard and Alex tried not to blush. "Well, come to mention it, I did see a stranger pass through here not too long ago. Had purpose in his eyes, kinda like you. I saw him last at the saloon. " Lucas Simms explained and he pointed a finger towards the only speck of real light in the city; a seedy looking saloon at the top of town.

Alex smiled gratefully, plotting a course up through the shackle of a town. "Thank you."

The Sheriff tipped his hat at her. "Anytime. Keep out of trouble now, I'd hate to waste bullets on ya."

He sounded as if he were joking but she didn't entirely want to find out.

Alex turned on her heel and headed up the nearby ramp onto the winding metal tree houses of Megaton. It was hard to ignore how their eyes seem to linger on her, some residents even stopping to whisper to a fellow resident. Alex ground her teeth together as climbed up the winding ramps of Megaton. Did they really have to stare so much? It was hardly her fault she was a Vault Dweller. And clean. How long had it been since a Vault Dweller had passed through that they actually stopped and stared when she passed? Alex wasn't used to such attention and kept her eyes focused purely on the sign of the saloon.

She walked along the ramps and pathways; hoping against hope that she would find her father leaning over the counter of the bar alive and safe. Well, safe enough until she was through with him. As she climbed the last of the steps and skidded to a halt outside the pub, her stomach flip flopped about. What if her dad wasn't in the bar? What would she do? Alex shook her head, chasing her doubts in. He just had to be inside. He just had to.

Alex wretched the door open and walked in.

She took one look around and felt something break in her.

No weathered, kind doctor.

No Vault-Tec issued suit stamped with a 101.

She could have curled up and cried.

Swallowing down the despair, Alex looked around  Just like the town, the squalid saloon was rundown and dark. A cocktail of shame, sweat and alcohol hung in the air. Her skin felt ready to run off without her. There were a few residents present in the pub; a man who appeared to look like corpse minded the till, a few people sitting at the counter clutched glasses filled with amber liquid and a woman who looked to offer her services to anyone with too many caps and lots of time. Considering what she had seen the past twelve hours, she was too exhausted to care.

 _'What now?'_ came her Pip-Boys disembodied voice in her head.

_'I don't know.'_

To stop herself from bursting into tears, Alex padded over to a bar stool and dropped herself onto it; her feet dangling a few inches off the ground. The man behind the counter eyed her warily as Alex fished out what little money she had, a handful of caps she'd found on the way over. For a moment she stared at him, noted his singed flesh and rotting body. She should have felt repulsed, but she didn't. She was too exhausted to do much of anything, including recoiling.

"Hey smoothskin, can I get you something? Anything at all?" he asked, his words guarded and careful as if he were worried he'd offend her.

Alex ran her tongue over her dry lips, trying not to let her eyes linger on any part of him too long. It was almost impossible "Something really really strong. Like really really strong," her tone heavy with exhaustion as she dropped the handful of bottlecaps onto the surface. "Is this enough? I don't really know the currency…"She bit the inside of her mouth, cursing inwardly herself for sounding so stupid.

The man behind the counter almost dropped the glass he was cleaning.

"You're not going to hit me? Yell at me? Even berate me just a little?" he asked, disbelief on his mangled face.

Alex leaned back slightly. "Am...am I supposed to?"

The man put down the glass and gather up the caps with a weak smile. "No, no. It's just a surprise. I'm used to every smoothskin in this town giving me crap just because I look like a corpse. Nice to know there are still some worthwhile people left in the world," he explained, sliding over her change. "He would have my ass if he caught me selling at a discount, but for you, I'd risk it. I'm Gob by the way. Gob from Underworld." He reached a hand over to her.

Taken back slightly, Alex stared for a second before reaching up and grasping in palm into a shake; an unpleasant enough experience she wasn't sure she wanted to repeat. His hand was lumpy and squishy, like cold rice pudding. She resisted the urge to wipe her hand against her jumpsuit afterwards.

"Alex from Vault 101," she replied, curling her fingers against the countertop. Gob's brow jerked and she supposed he must have been raising an eyebrow at her

"Figured from the jump suit. Not many of those around here. What are you doing out here in this shithole?"

Alex gave a disgruntled snort and swirled the contents of her glass. "My dad did a runner. I'm out here looking for him," she replied as she took a swig of the amber liquid in her tumbler. All the way down it burned before settling in her stomach, calming her scattered nerves slightly. Whiskey, and shit whiskey at that. Her Pip-Boy's screen flashed red a second and she was certain he probably wanted her to be drinking water. But she didn't care. She needed this.

Gob, meanwhile, gave her what she supposed was smile. It was hard to tell. "Sorry Alex...That must have been rough. If you need anything else, give me a shout," Gob remarked before turning his attention to another customer.

It wasn't until the girl downed the last of her whisky and was left alone with her thoughts when she became aware of something quite strange from the corner of her eye. Someone was watching her intently and had been for quite some time. Alex shuffled in her seat, trying to get a look around the bar without being too obvious.

Sitting in the corner was strangest man Alex had ever laid her eyes on, save from Gob. He was such an immense contrast to his surroundings that Alex was amazed she had missed him in the first place. He seemed to be trying to get her attention. Alex swallowed again. Perhaps he knew something of her father?

She had to ask, just to be certain.

Against what little judgement she possessed, she swung off the barstool and approached the stranger.

"My my, just when I had all but given up hope." His voice was smooth, trusting almost; if it was not for the fact that there was a Silenced 10mm pistol clipped to his belt. The man in question was wearing a pristine white pinstripe business suit a pre-war brown hat and a dashing pair of tortoiseshell glasses. It was hard to tell his age but she supposed her was maybe in his thirties and he wore a smile that didn't make her feel at ease.

"You talking to me?" the teenager asked, attempting to keep her tone level and detached. They both knew the answer.

"Why of course. Now, would you care to sit down?" he replied with an enticing smile gracing his lips.

Although he framed it as a question, it was more of on order. Her legs acted on her behalf and she found herself slipping into the chair next to him. He smiled again crisply, and Alex returned the gesture with a frown. Had to keep it cool, play it close to her chest. To his credit, Burke's grin did not falter in the slightest. If anything, the blue eyes hidden behind his sunglasses flashed in dangerous amusement.

"My dear boy, I am very happy to make your acquaintance. I am Mister Burke," he introduced, knitting his long fingers together.

She felt herself bristle with annoyance.

He thought her a boy.

Unbelievable.

Alex's jaw tightened in anger. She was not even out in the wasteland one day and she was being mistaken for a boy. "I'm a girl," She hissed through clenched teeth. The man stopped, shamelessly trailed his eyes over her short figure then let out a chuckle of laughter.

"Really? My apologies. The line between boy and girl seems to be rather blurred these days," he said with a raised brow.

Her temper flared, as did her cheeks. "The line between my fist and your face is going to become blurred as well," she hissed, curling her gloved hand into a fist for effect.

Burke's mouth curled into an amused smirk, as if he were enjoying her reaction. Alex felt her confidence waver slightly. He was supposed to be threatened, not amused. She would prefer anger or irritation. That she could deal with. She wasn't accustomed to anything else. "Now now, we must remember our manners. We wouldn't want things to get off on the wrong foot now would we?" he said smoothly, his voice almost slithering over her.

Her pulse stuttered. "Look, I just needed to ask you something."

The man chose to ignore Alex's comment. Or perhaps he just didn't hear. "I have introduced myself, it is only polite for you to do the same," Mister Burke stated, his tone lined with silver.

"Alex Halsey," she stated, trying to sound as unimpressed as possible but failing miserably.

To her dismay, Burke simply chuckled at her response; infuriating the young woman further. People were not supposed to laugh at her.

It didn't happen.

Ever.

If Alex had been a bird, her feathers would have been beyond repair.

"Oh, you have a boy's name as well? How perfect."

Alex attempted to rein in her anger and failed. "It's Alexandra actually," she insisted. She was tired, and hurting. She was allowed this rudeness.

Burke clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Alexandra sounds much more refined."

She scowled, suddenly feeling every bit the teenager she was. "And pretentious. I prefer Alex, thanks."

Mister Burke leaned back in his chair, somehow looking both relaxed and intimidating at the same time. It set her skin on edge in a way she couldn't quite explain nor wanted to think about too closely. "Very well, Alex," he drawled out her name as if savouring it on his tongue. "If you care to indulge me for a moment, am I right in assuming that you are indeed new to this 'capital wasteland'" he asked, dark eyes twinkling behind his sunglasses.

"What gave it away clever clogs? The big '101' stencilled on my back?"

His face did not falter for a moment. It remained as calm and composed as ever as he delivered his threat. "Careful now. You'd do well to remember that out here, not everyone is as well-mannered as I am and would shoot you dead for such cheek."

Alex's found her eyes drawn to the pistol resting upon his hip and her own felt lighter. "Look, Mister Burke is it? I'm _really_ tired. I just wanted to know if you had seen my dad that's all."

Burke laced his fingers together. "Hmm, I may have. I'll tell what I know. You hear out a little business proposal I have. That seems like an acceptable trade don't you think."

She didn't like where the conversation was going. She didn't like it at all. But she loved her father more. "Okay, I'll bite."

The gentleman seemed to pause at that; eyes scanning on her features with interest. "Splendid. I did see a man in a Vault suit just like yours come in here. He spoke with the owner Moriarty at great length," Burke said with some distaste. "About what I don't know, but Moriarty is the man you should speak with."

Moriarty. She had a lead now. "And your business proposal?"

"Ah yes. I represent certain...interests. And those interests view this town, this 'Megaton', as a blight on an burgeoning urban landscape."

Alex raised her brows. "'Burgeoning?' You're kidding right?"

Burke silenced her with a forceful look before continuing. Apparently he was not a man who was used to being interrupted.

"You have no interests here; no connections with cesspools affairs or fate. You could help us erase this little accident off the map. The undetonated Atomic bomb for which this town is named is still very much alive. All it needs is a little... _motivation_ " Burke explained, his voice dropping an octave.

At that moment, Alex was silenced for several seconds; allowing the implications of his words sink in. She swallowed the lump in her throat and wet her lips carefully. Burke's steel gaze followed her moments. "Wait. You're not planning on blowing up Megaton are you?" Alex asked with disbelief.

The man chuckled then leaned a little closer. "No no dear girl, I am merely the recruiter. You will get to have all the fun," he answered.

"Is that even possible?"

Something horrible glinted in his eyes, and it was all the more sinister behind his shades. "It is, with a little kick to get it going."

Alex was plum out of words to express her astonishment. Her silence seemed to please him for the fox-like smile he wore deepened.

"I have your rapt attention it seems. Now listen closely. I have in my possession a fusion pulse charge, constructed for a _singular_ purpose. The detonation of that bomb. You rig it to the bomb. And you'll get paid. Handsomely. What do you say?"

She stared him blankly. "God you're serious aren't you?"

"As a heart attack," he answered smoothly, not missing a beat.

"You're crazy," she said with disbelief. Only yesterday she had been snoozing in the vault without a care in the world. Now she was being propositioned into committing murder by a man stupid enough to wear sunglasses in a dark bar.

The man grinned again and Alex almost felt the oil on her skin in response. "I prefer the term 'ambitious'" 

Suddenly the need to flee was an unbearable burn in her legs. "No, no I'm not doing this. It's crazy. You're fucking crazy." She made an attempt to move from the chair, wanting to somewhere else, anywhere else than sitting across from Burke.

Suddenly, Burke's hand shot up and seized her wrist. "Now now. You'd do well to remember that you're alone out here, and you don't want to make an enemy of me."

Alex gasped as he applied pressure with a hand large enough to encompass her wrist completely. Her first instinct was to tug her hand, but he held her tight in his vice like grip. "Let go."

Burke did not budge an inch. He simply smiled, as if he were holding her hand in a loving embrace as opposed to crushing her wrist. He twisted it slightly and Alex felt pain run right up her arm. "It's rude to leave in the middle of a conversation," he warned. 

Desperate, Alex glanced around behind her to find none of the patrons in the bar the least bit surprised. Or just ignoring the situation completely. Didn't they care? If this were the vault –

Alex stopped herself. It wasn't the Vault at all.

She swallowed her fear down and tried to find her courage. "Let go," she repeated. "Or I'll break your hand."

Burke squeezed again and pain streaked up her arm. "Not if I break your wrist first. You'll find bones take longer to heal out here little vault dweller."

Fear seeped through her like slush. "Let go," Alex repeated, trying to keep her voice steady.

He hummed in his throat. "Only if you promise not to do anything silly. It won't end well for you."

Alex found herself nodding, the fear real in her pounding blood. She just wanted to get away, far away from him as possible. Even Butch never did these sorts of things. He roughed her up a little, but rarely did he truly hurt her.

But this wasn't Vault 101.

And Mister Burke was far more sinister and insidious than Butch.

She licked her dry lips again. "I won't. Just let go."

The man smiled in victory and his slender fingers released themselves from around her skinny wrist. Alex recoiled her hand immediately in case he changed his mind. 

"There's a good girl," he all but purred as Alex massaged her sore wrist. She was shaking in her jumpsuit like she had a terrible fever. "So, now that all that unpleasantness is out of the way. Does my proposal interest you?"

Alex flexed her fingers, considering her options quickly, adding up and calculating possible outcomes of the situation. How could she get out of this, and quickly without Burke breaking her wrists.

Or worse still, her legs.

Burke was waiting patiently for her answer, his sly smile still firmly in place. Alex inhaled and she noticed that his eyes seemed to follow the movement of her chest. In fact his entire gaze seemed to be skimming over her, not lingering overlong yet still enough to know that he was mildly intrigued by her. She knew that look before; when Butch's eyes lingered on Amata when he thought she wasn't looking.

Heat flushed into her cheeks again. Oh God. Was he checking her out? He was. She was suddenly very self conscious of the little singlet top she had on and the overalls tied lazily around her hips. Her outfit exposed far more skin that was allowed.

Maybe…

Just maybe…

_Think Alex. How can you make this work? What did that stupid book say about pre war men? That they liked submissive women?_

Alex shifted on the chair, bringing her hands over to lie on the flat of her belly. Wind chapped lips tipped into a smile she didn't feel at all.  "Well, I have a little 'proposition' of my own."

Behind shaded lenses, Burke's eyes seemed to darken with curiosity and he propped an elbow onto the arm rest. "Colour me intrigued. Go on," he replied, voice liquid and smooth.  Alex almost shivered at the sound, but remembered the throbbing in her wrist.

"Well this proposition of yours would...end the entire town?" Alex linked her hands together and stretched her arms upwards with a fake sigh of pleasure. The movement drew up the hem of her top, exposing her belly button. "Sorry, needed to stretch out a little, been a long day."

Burke's breath whistled through his teeth as he answered. "Yes, that's correct."

"Well...thing is, I kinda like this place. It's cute in a crap kind of way."

"That's an interesting way of putting it," he replied vaguely but his eyes were distracted.

"I'm thinking of living here for a while.So maybe you could hold off unless..." Her fingers reached up and tucked a loose lock of hair back behind her ear, just like Christine Kendall might have done. Burke watched every movement, and she caught how his fingers seemed to tighten against the chair. "You want me dead along with this place?"

Alex waited, letting the implication hang between them.

A heartbeat passed, then two.

Then just like that, Burke's demeanour completely changed. The sly smirk he wore melted away and instead he looked like a man who had just been paid a compliment by a pretty woman.

"Well I...I uhm...I mean, no." He coughed, evidently trying to recover his composure. "Of course not. I must admit, I've never met a woman quite like you."

"A Vault dweller you mean?" Alex asked with a raised brow.

"Yes. You are such a rare breed." His eyes drop again and this time she doesn't feel the urge to shy away. "This changes everything."

Alex almost laughed. Surely it couldn't be so easy? He was trying to break her wrist ten minutes ago now he was gushing over her. What a absolute weirdo.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to tell Tenpenny, I'll think of something," Burke stated, his fluid and commanding tone all but diminished. Alex bit the inside of her mouth to stop herself from giggling. "You wait here my dear. I have some important business to conclude in the wasteland. But you won't be waiting long, I will send for you soon."

With that, Burke adjusted his hat and made to leave. Alex folded her arms over her chest; what little cleavage she had pressing out for effect. Burke let out a small, frustrated noise that she almost missed. "Take your time. I'm not going anywhere," she lied.

Burke gave her one last look, and it was impossible to ignore the longing on his face. Then just like that, he disappeared out the door like a shadow.

Feeling terribly smug and pleased with herself, Alex stood up from the armchair and went back to the bar.

"Good riddance. I thought he'd never leave," Gob remarked, cleaning a glass. "Didn't think he'd clear off for a pretty face though."

Alex's cheeks reddened and glanced back the door, suddenly worried that maybe he was outside listening. Her paranoia was on high alert.

"Yeah. I didn't know how else to get rid of him," she said before quickly continuing the conversation. She didn't want to think about Mister Burke and how he could make her both shiver with fear and something else that didn't feel quite right. "Hey Gob, Is there like an hotel or something I dunno in Megaton. After what I've been through today, I need a sleep."

The ghoulish barkeep jerked his thumb towards the auburn haired woman in the corner. "If your caps are good, Nova will set you up straight," Gob responded.

Her pockets suddenly felt very light. "Probably only got about one thirty on me at the moment. I haven't really counted."

"You would want to find some work tomorrow then. What can you do?"

"Depends who you ask. My dad used to say I was an engineer. The overseer called me a time waster."

Her newfound friend waved a hand. "You'll find work no problem. See Nova if you want a bed."

Alex pushed away from the bar and approached the ginger haired woman that Gob had gestured to. She was pretty, perhaps only Alex's age with hair like curls of thin copper sheets.

"Hey kid, haven't seen you about before," the woman said with a practiced purr.

"Yeah. Vaultie," Alex replied.

Nova grinned "I heard. And you finally got that Burke guy to leave. He was giving me the creeps."

She snorted. "I can't believe that even worked. I keep expecting him to come back and break my wrist any second." Alex glanced back at the door again just to be safe.

Nova's brow wrinkled. "It looked like was about to get ugly. I was going to go and get Colin."

"I've had worse," she said, feigning bravado. To do anything else was dangerous. "What do you know about him?"

"Polite enough man I suppose. Makes my skin crawl though. There's nothing not quite right about the guy."

She remembered how his voice both curled around her yet made her want to run at the same time. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Anything else?"

The corners of Nova's mouth tweaked faintly before being coupled with a breath of laughter. It was dry and weak; almost like the copper haired woman had almost forgotten how to laugh altogether. "Only that he's a man, and for all his sophistication, he's predictable."

Alex laughed, and she felt some of the pressure in her chest lift. "There was a book in the Vault that was all about how to make any man fall in love with you. I wish I could tell everyone that it worked."

Nova laughed again. "So kid, what can I do for you?" Alex dug her hand into her pockets and she replied with a small bag full of caps.

"Gob said you could get me a bed. This enough?" The copper haired woman carefully counted by the handful of caps Alex handed over. "Just enough for a bed and some company."

"No offence Nova but you're not my type."

Despite her comment, Nova did not appear to be defeated in the slightest. If anything, her alluring smile changed into a suggestive grin. "The mysterious, suit wearing guys more 'your type'?"

Alex rubbed her wrist again, feeling the bruise already begin to form. What a creep. "No. Strapping mechanics are my type, not snakes in suits," she insisted. "So, can I have the key to the room now?"

A worn key was held out to her, accompanied with a warm smile.

"Upstairs, middle room with the better bed. Sleep well kid." Nova remarked, her lines sounding somewhat rehearsed.

"Thanks, uh, Nova is it?"

"Any time sugar."

Alex took the key and headed up the creaking stairs towards the room that Nova had directed her to. She unlocked the door, slipped inside and took care to lock it behind her. A simple double bed took up space in the center of the room; grimy and hardly up to Vault-Tec standards. The furniture was haggard and most likely broken. Alex wondered if the bed even had springs. The Vault Dweller wrinkled her nose at the musty smell but dropped her sack on a nearby chair. She struggled out of her clothing, leaving them where they fell, then curled up on the bed.

She was asleep before her Pip-Boy even had a chance to speak.


	2. Dirty Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Updated chapter from the original fanfiction version)

**"** I'm waking up to ash and dust

I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust

I'm breathing in the chemicals

I'm breaking in, shaping up

Then checking out on the prison bus

This is it, the apocalypse" 

**\- Imagine Dragons 'Radioactive'**

* * *

Sunlight filtered through the cracks of the aluminium ceiling. Alex's eyes stung from the light and something hard that felt strangely gritty, as if she rubbed sand under her eyelids. That couldn't be right. 

Alex sat up and surveyed her unfamiliar surroundings. Panic seized her throat, closing around her breath. Where was she? This wasn't her bedroom. What had happened? Where was her dad? 

And then it all came flooding back; her dad's disappearance, the escape from the Vault, Megaton. So real and sudden that it physically hurt. 

She pulled the covers over her head, trying to block it all out if only for a moment.

It was a mistake. She wanted it to all be a mistake. Her nose wrinkled as she realised just how badly the blankets smelt.

It wasn't a mistake. And she couldn't stay here. She had to find her dad. 

Releasing the blankets, Alex rubbed the dust from her eyes. She had not slept well the night before, despite how exhausted she had been. The persistent, gentle humming of the Vault had been absent. She didn't realise just how much she needed that white noise to sleep. Megaton was noisy in a different way. She still wasn't accustomed to hearing gun shots.

" _Mornin'. You alright aye?"_  Her Pip-Boy remarked from her wrist. Alex tapped his glowing screen in response.

"Yeah, just a little itchy from that bed. We need to find somewhere else to stay. I can't sleep another night in that bed," she insisted.

" _I think your father is more of a priority. Have you checked that holotape we found?"_  he hummed.

The Holotape.

Alex almost kicked herself. How could she have forgotten?

She scrabbled out of bed and collected up her discarded gear, looking for the small holotape she had stuffed into a pocket yesterday during the escape.

Yesterday.

She stilled a moment. 

Yesterday.

Had it truly been that long? Her life in the Vault seemed so very far away now. It had only been a day and God, how she missed the Vault. She missed Butch and the chatter of the dining hall. She missed the lightbulb in their bathroom that always flickered despite her attempts to fix it. She missed the start of shift banter. She missed Amata most of all. Her throat went tight with emotion. 

" _You okay?"_

Alex sniffed it back. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her fingers enclosed around the holotape. "Here it is."

" _Pop_   _it in and let's find old what your Papa has to say for himself."_

"Okay." Alex flicked the holotape into her Pip-Boy. The screen flickered a moment, then the recording started to play.

At first she heard nothing, just rapid footsteps and the sounds of supplies being shoved roughly into a bag. Then came her father's soft, comforting voice and Alex nearly cried all over again.

" _Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first…I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong, and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe some day, things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."_

There was a pause in the recording, and Alex had to strain her ears to hear it. Was that Jonas?

"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."

Oh Jonas. Poor kind, sweet Jonas. New tears bit at the corner of her eyes. The holotape was all she had of his life now.   
_  
"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye….I love you sweetheart_."

The audio ended with a click. A tiny sob slipped from between Alex's wind chapped lips. Her teeth found her knuckle as she bit into the skin to stop herself from breaking down completely.

God, what was she supposed to do now? Where was he going? And why couldn't he tell her? She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to wring her father's neck. She wanted to hug him and never let him go. She wanted to do everything at once.

Her Pip-boy's screen flashed back to standby.  _"Well?"_ was all he said.

What more could be said?

"Well…what?"

The Pip-boy hummed in what she could only assume was annoyance.  _"What do we do now? Do we go looking for him?"_

"We don't even know where  _we_  are, much less where he is," she pointed out. Her Pip-Boy's pre-war map was useless. Megaton didn't seem to register anywhere.

" _Someone in the town must have seen him, heard where he was goin' Let's ask around. It won't cost a bob just to ask."_

Alex rubbed her eyes again then wiped her hand against her shirt. "Yeah. You're right. Let's get going."

She pulled on her jumpsuit halfway; tightly securing the sleeves into a knot around her hips. She preferred it that way; the big "101" stitching on her back felt like a white hot brand. And she would much rather forget the Vault for the moment. "We'll need money."

Her Pip-Boy spluttered, his version of a snort.  _"We've just come from a vault. We're bound to have some shite in our bag we can sell."_

Alex picked up her heavy leather sack, finally managing to bring herself to look into it almost twenty four hours after she left the vault. Fingertips trembled as she untied the leather cords and unbuckled the straps.

Despite the chaos of her exit, Amata had managed to pack essential objects including a good few bottles of purified water and a number of Stimpacks stolen from the medical bay. Alex turned the bag upside down and proceeded to shake it roughly. A treasure trove of radiation medications and personal effects spilled out onto the bed along with, packs of ration cubes, bobby pins, pistol ammo and sewing thread. The pockets were overflowing with junk she had collected on the run.

" _Christ, we're minted."_

"That depends on how much this crap sells for," Alex said as she heaved her bag onto her shoulder and headed down the staircase once more.

The saloon hadn't changed overnight. In fact, it looked worse and she was less than surprised to find the same people she left the night before still there, sipping away at amber coloured liquid in faded green tumblers. The young woman glanced at the armchair were Burke sat the previous night. It was empty still, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure she could have faced him again.

Gob greeted her with a smile when she handed her room key back over. Nova was absent and Alex didn't want to think about where she might have been. "Not going to stay another night?"

She tapped her empty pockets. "I can't afford it. Unless you accept peanuts instead of caps."

Gob sighed wistfully. "I haven't had peanuts in fucking years…You don't have any on you do you?"

"No, sorry," Alex said. Even if she did, Alex doubted she would even share. "Listen, I really need to make some money…Is there any jobs going?"

Leaning over the counter, he signalled for Alex to do the same and she could not help but stare for a moment. After all, she hadn't heard of a Ghoul until the previous night much less had a good look at one up close. He was both fascinating and horrifying. Dull blue eyes stared back at her, glazed over a fine white to make seem all the more zombie-like. His skin seemed hard in some places and soft in others. The spot where his nose should have been was vacant.

"Well, I heard that Walter, the old mechanic, needs some help at the Water Processing Plant. And that he's willing to pay."

"How do you know all of this Gob?"

The said ghoul tapped the gap where his nose should have been and Alex could not help but wince. She would never get used to that. "I work in a bar kid. I hear all sorts of things when I'm not getting slapped around the customers."

Her brow wrinkled for a moment. "Could I ask you something?"

"Anything for you friend."

"I need to find my father; middle aged man with a beard. Sort of looks like me. He'd might have been in a vault suit as well."

His facial expression twitched slightly in remembrance. "I do remember seeing someone like that. He wasn't here long, spoke with Mister Moriarty though. You should ask him."

Alex adjusted her bag strap. "Thanks for the help," she said before exiting the rundown saloon, glad to put the experience of her first night in the Wasteland behind her.

Megaton was hot was energetic and thriving in a way that was unfamiliar. Though the town looked even worse in the luminous daylight than it did when she arrived, it was busy and felt very much alive. Sterile corridors and crowded rooms was what she was accustomed to. She wasn't used to such…life.

Alex swallowed, looked around and spotted who she assumed was Moriarty, leaning against the railing of the balony. He was tall – much taller than her – with a mess of white that had been unsuccessfully been slicked back and a tangled, unkempt beard. He wore a sleeveless duster coat over a white shirt and grey trousers of similar material and steel toe capped boots.

"Colin? Colin Moriarty?" she asked, fiddling with the straps of her bag. She hated how her fingers seemed to shake, how her voice seemed so hesitant. She wasn't used to hearing that sort of edge to her voice.

The man turned, seemingly noticing her presence. He wore a look of surprise, evidently not used to people not knowing who he was. "That's me little lass. Colin Moriarty, at your service! Welcome to Moriarty's! My saloon, my home, my slice of heaven in this backwoods little burg. What can I do for you sweetlin'?" He asked in a manner that didn't seem as kind as it first appeared. 

Alex felt her skin shudder despite the warm air. "I'm looking for my dad. His name is James from Vault 101. I heard he passed through here," she explained. 

Moriarty's demeanour suddenly switched the moment the words left her mouth; rapidly so that Alex almost regretted asking him. The man then looked at her again; as if he had only really noticed her properly. "My god it's you! The little baby girl, all grown up. Persistent little flower aren't' ya?"

Alex's stared. "Excuse me?"

"You wouldn't remember me lass. You were too young, just a newborn babe. You and your father stayed in my saloon years ago." 

Her stomach leapt and fell immediately, as if she'd just jumped from a great height. "Me and my father stayed where?" 

Moriarty continued. "That's right, your father, his Brotherhood of Steel friend and you; a suckling babe with nary a tit to suckle. Sorry about your mum. Truly," the Irishman said, giving her a sympathetic look  

The falling feeling in her gut continued. "What you are talking about? You've got the wrong kid. I was born in the vault-"

She was cut off by a snort of laughter. "Is that what your dad told you? That you were born in the hole? That he was born there as well. Oh the lies we tell to those we love."

Alex stared, too stunned to realise she was holding her breath. No, that couldn't be right. The man was lying. He just had to be. "That's complete shit! My dad would never lie to me. He wouldn't!" she insisted her voice breaking slightly.

Again, the man laughed. It was an unpleasant sound. "Oh I see. I have heard of the brain washing that goes on down there, 'All hail the Overseer, all hail the Overseer. We're born in the vault, we die in the fault' and all that assorted lunacy," he mocked. 

"That's not what happens," Alex said though not feeling quite so sure.

"It is. You ain't the first lost lamb to come through here from a Vault," Moriarty stated before taking a deep drag of his cigarette.

"When? I've never heard of anyone leaving our Vault before." 

"Ach about 20 or so years ago now, maybe longer. You stop counting the years when you hit 50 around these parts." 

Alex paused, considering his words. She didn't know what was the truth anymore. 

Moriarty spoke again. Listen kid, You'd best wise up quick. You wouldn't anyone taking of advantage of ya. Heard that weirdo in the suit already tried that."

Her skin rippled again, threatening to run off without her. She wanted to get as far away from Megaton as she could, but needed to find her dad first. "Right okay." Alex took a breath, trying to gather herself. "Let's just pretend that I believe you. What do I need for his location?"

Moriarty leaned back against the railing of the banister and shot her a horrible grin. For a brief, wonderful moment Alex with the idea of pushing him over the edge of the railing. 

"You catch on quick kid. Your father raised a smart kid. Speaking of dear old dad, One hundred caps and Daddy's location is yours."

"I don't have that sort of money. I just got out last night." 

"No caps, no info."

"I'll push you over the railing."

Moriarty laughed again, unfazed by her threat, as he tapped his cigarette. Flaky ash floated onto her boot. "Oh you're great value kid."

"You don't think I wouldn't do it?"

The Irishman merely smirked. "No you don't have the stones kid," he said casually. He wasn't wrong, she supposed. Alex couldn't be certain how the town would react. "Listen, I'll help you out. For old times sake," Moriarty said, taking another deep drag. "If you don't have the caps to pay for the information then perhaps you can help me with a little problem."

Alex shifted her weight slightly. "Go on."

"This junkie bitch named Silver borrowed quite a few caps off me. Said she could selling me jet at a low price, only she ran and took the Caps with her."

"What do you want me to do?" Alex asked, hoping he wouldn't ask her start making Jet. Whatever that was. 

"Kill her, and the Caps are yours. Well, yours to pay me with," he replied simply. 

Alex blinked. "Kill her?" 

"Aye. You have cloth for ears?"

The very thought of it made Alex feel ill. "Where is she hiding out?"

"That's a good lass. She's hold up in Springvale. Now on you go, scoot."

Alex didn't need telling twice. She felt as if she were about to hurl all over his boots. She turned and walked down the nearest ramp then turned behind a shack to hide from the Irishman. It didn't help as her legs gave way and Alex sunk onto the dusty ground. Her skin felt clammy and sweaty under her suit, yet she felt the need to shiver despite the warmth. "Fuck I feel I'm about to be sick."

The too familiar sensation of ice flooding into the base of her skull alerted her to the presence of her Pip-Boy connecting into her neural pathways, opening a link between her brain wave frequency and his own artificial one. It was a sort of private channel that he used so they could communicate without interference. 

_'Pet, you need to take some Rad-X. You're not used to the radiation out here.'_

_'Do we have any?'_

_'Aye, left pocket in your suit.'_

After dry swallowing down one of black and yellow capsules, Alex leaned back against the shacks wall and waited for the shaking to subside.

_'What a fucking creep, holding me to ransom like this.'_

' _You gonna do it_?' Her Pip-Boy whirled from her wrist with disapproval.

' _Fuck_   _no. I'm not going to do Moriarty's dirty work for him. But there's no harm in checking out Springvale. We might find something we can trade for the money.'_

The Pip-Boy made a whirling sound of relief. 

' _Do you even know where Springvale is anyway?'_

' _I have a rough idea.'_

' _Forgive me if I'm wrong pet, but you drew on the red sea next to Australia in a geography lesson.'_

' _Easily done.'_

' _Not if you're copying from an atlas.'_

Alex tapped the screen in irritation.  _'Well clever clogs, where it is then?'_  Alex thought as they made their way through the dusty, warm settlement.

Her Pip-Boy brought up the co-ordinates of the town almost immediately with an almost smug electrical hum.

' _You did that on purpose.'_

' _Don't be daft._ '

She secured the straps on her bag and smoothed out her Vault-Tec overalls before leaving the settlement for Springvale.

* * *

The situation in Springvale was resolved without any violence. Silver turned out to be a rather twitchy blonde woman hiding out in the only habitable house in Springvale. The woman explained her situation to the Alex and the pair struck a deal. Three hundred caps and she would tell the Saloon owner that Silver was dead. Problem solved and Colin Moriarty had been none the wiser. Alex was surprised he'd even kept his end of the bargain when he disclosed that her father had been heading for Galaxy News Radio. 

As soon Colin had told her where her dad had headed, Alex headed straight for the town merchant; following the crudely made signs up across various walkways until she reached a surprisingly large building. It was in better condition than some of the other buildings in Megaton and the front of the shop appeared to be made out the cockpit of a prewar-airbus.

After a somewhat strange encounter with the eccentric owner of Craterside supply, Alex left the shop with a lighter bag than she'd hoped. Rations and medical supplies had been more expensive than she'd first anticipated. The bags she'd earned had been almost completely used up. She still needed a decent weapon and some ammo. Moria, although strange, was kind enough to give her a new armoured jumpsuit that fitted better than her old suit and promise of research work if she needed it. 

Alex would have rather set herself on fire. Instead, she looked into the repair work that Gob had mentioned. That was more familiar.

It didn't take long for her find the unsurprisingly rundown building with the words "Water Processing Plant" hastily scribbled on the side. Several lead pipes jutted out from under the building; running down the crater and spiking off in every direction like a piece of pre-war abstract art.

Alex pushed the door open and tried not to be dismayed. The Vault's plumbing equipment was pretty old but Megaton's was even worse. Corroded lead conduits groaned and shook with age as water funnelled through the pipes. A continuous sloshing of water gurgled beneath her booted feet.

She touched the walls gingerly and her fingerprints left blurred marks upon the walls; a deep and thick powder of limescale seemed to coat every surface. 

"Hello? Alex called out over the pipes. "Anyone here?"

The wrinkled figure of an old mechanic stepped from a cramped workspace that she assumed was his office, and immediately she thought of Stanley. He had a kind face, the colour of old worn leather. Age lines pulled at every corner of his weathered face and his chin was covered in a sprouting of thick white hair. Weary dark eyes stared back at her, troubled with worry. She knew that look well. 

"Yeah? Can I help you?" the old mechanic wearily.

"I heard from Gob you've been needing help up here."

The old mechanic nodded as he collected up stray components from floor; tossing them into a large steel container before wiping his hands against his grubby overalls. 

"It's no secret that this place-" he silenced a nearby gurgling pipe with a swift kick, "Is falling to pieces. I haven't got the time to fix the leaks all over town when I'm needed here."

"I could give you a hand."

"Heh, what experience have you had with mechanics stranger?"

Alex felt a burst of pride. For the most part  she had been good at her job. "I'm a vault trained engineer."

A smile cracked across the old man's face, revealing a gap on the side of his mouth. "Grab a tool belt and hop to it. I'll pay you sixty six caps each leak you fix."

"How many are there?"

Watler rubbed his face. "From the pressure in the pipes, I'd say about three."

Alex snapped the toolbelt around her waist, and for the first time since leaving the Vault, she felt a sense of normality. It was deeply comforting. "Yeah, I saw one on the way into town."

"The other two are somewhere else."

"Can I leave my stuff here?"

"Sure thing. What's your name kid?"

For a strange moment, she hesitated. In the Vault, everyone had known one another, right down to their inside leg measurements. It felt strange to be in a place where no one knew who she was. "Alex... Alex Halsey."

"Well Alex, thanks for doing this. And for the love of God don't screw up now."

She didn't even bother to dignify his comment with a response.

Outside the Water Processing plant, Alex looked for the leaks and spotted three small fountains of water through the settlements. She crossed several bridges and slid down a good few slopes to reach the first leak she had passed the night before.

Alex squatted down next to the fractured pipelines, her knees grinding into the dusty ground as she pulled on a pair of calloused gloves. No sense in cutting her palms open on rusted pipes. 

She had only just started assessing the damage to the pipe when a shadow suddenly fell over her. "Nice to see someone fixing those, didn't think it would be you though."

Alex glanced up and managed a smile she didn't feel for the sheriff of Megaton.

"I need the caps so I can find my dad," Alex replied and she pulled out a pipe wrench; a rare old Stillson model that had certainly seen better days.

Applying weight onto the wrench, Alex placed a gloved hand upon the pipe and turned the loose bolt with a moderate amount of pressure. She didn't turn too quickly or hard, wary that too much weight would damage the already fragile duct. Sure enough, as the bolt got harder to turn, the sharp jet of water slowed. She picked out another wrench with smaller jaws and made quick work of the minor bolts that were weak around the base of the pipe. Glancing at the leak, she then gripped the pressure valve and tightened it slightly. The spray ceased altogether.

"You're pretty handy with a wrench girl."

Alex ducked her head to hide her embarrassed flush. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been complimented for her work. "Nah this is basic shit. Could teach a shovel to do it."

"You a mechanic?"

"Engineer technically."

"Don't suppose you know anything about atomic weapons?"

She looked up properly. The sheriff watched her intently. "Mostly theory. We didn't really have any weaponry to practice on. Why."

"Well…" Lucas Simms started. "It's about that bomb."

The memory of Burke slithered into her mind, causing her to pause a moment. "What about it?"

"I was thinkin' about trying to disarm it for good. But I don't trust any of the locals to tinker with it. Besides, most people don't even realize it's still a threat. And hell, Cromwell and those crazies from the Church of Atom, they worship the damn thing. Figured you'd had a better idea how it works. They say Vault Dwellers are clever."

Alex laughed without meaning to. "I lived with some fucking morons in the Vault." It hurt now even to think of Butch and his gang. She missed them terribly. "But You want me to take a look at it?" she asked, sitting back on her haunches.

"I'd pay you for your trouble kid. Hundred caps alright with you?"

Alex cracked a proper smile. A hundred caps was better than alright. A hundred caps was a step closer to finding her father. 

 _'Maybe you should tell him about Burke'_  came the disembodied voice of her Pip-Boy. For the briefest of moments, Alex hesitated for a reason she didn't understand.

She slipped her wrench into the toolbelt and suddenly felt her wrist ache again. God he nearly had broken it.

"Sheriff…" She started. "Yesterday when I first got here. There was a man at the saloon, Mister Burke."

The sheriff seemed to tense with alarm. "Yeah what about him? He try anything on with you kid?" he said with almost parental concern.

Alex swallowed down her hesitation. "No, no nothing like that but...he tried to talk me into rigging the Bomb to explode."

Lucas Simms nearly detonated in response.

"He did what?! Oh, I never did like the look of him," Simms seethed in anger, and suddenly Alex regretted even mentioning it. What if he thought her an accessory? 

"What are you going to do?" she said, trying to sound braver than she felt.

Simms wiped his damp brow beneath his hat. "Not much I can do. He took off yesterday; said he had some business to take care of so he's long gone by now, the bastard. But I swear: If he steps within a mile of Megaton, he's a fucking dead man."

Alex thought of the look he had given her before he left and her flesh pimpled in response. She wasn't used to men looking at her like that; with a hunger that was unfamiliar. 

The sheriff glanced over her to the Bomb, looking deeply concerned. "Listen girl, we need that bomb disabled as quickly as possible. If Burke knows it's still armed, others could as well. If you disarm that bomb before the end of today I'll give you three hundred caps. Hell I'd even let you move in."

Three hundred caps was more than she could have ever hoped for.

Alex stood up abruptly, ignoring the crack of protest in her knees. "I'll get to it right away."

"Good! Just don't go blowing us up now."

She managed to smile again. "No promises."

* * *

The sky had turned a dull shade of murky orange before Alex finally finished up all her jobs for the day and collected her rewards. An ecstatic Walter had rewarded her with two hundred caps and a request for any scrap metal. Lucas Simms had been more than generous, presenting her with three hundred caps as well as a deed to an empty house in Megaton. She was grateful to have somewhere to sleep free of charge. 

Though Alex wanted to set off for her dad immediately, her Pip-Boy warned that she was too tired and suggested leaving in the morning. Disarming the Megaton bomb had been quite a challenge and had taken the help of a blue Mentat pill before she had the nerve to cut the cables she knew were right.

She had thought of the strange Mister Burke the moment she cut the cord that linked the reactor to the undetonated timer. If the man made good on his promise, which she knew he would, he'd find the bomb completely useless. Alex hoped she would not be around when he found out it had been disarmed and by whom.

Weary, and unwilling to think any more of Mister Burke's reaction, Alex pushed the shack door open. It was a modest sized house, bigger than her quarters inside Vault 101 but had very little in the way of furniture.

She dropped her travelling sack near a set of lockers and breathed in the smell of her new home. The ceiling sagged somewhat with age and the house had a musty smell she associated with age. The previous owner was probably a mechanic for various broken tools and scrap were piled in a corner near a weathered workbench.

Upstairs, Alex found a desk, an old bed and another footlocker had housed several blankets that were a little more threadbare than she would have liked.

It wasn't exactly her home in the Vault, but it wasn't Moriarty's saloon either. Alex swallowed the lump of hesitation in her throat and quickly made up her bed, desperate for sleep.

It wasn't until she heard a sudden buzz whirling away that she realised she was not alone in the house. A Mister Handy came floating out out from the kitchen, humming a merry tune to himself. "Hello mum, allow me to introduce myself, I am Wadsworth, your person butler and I am here to attend to your personal needs. Is there anything you require of me today?" he asked cheerfully in a businesslike, English accent. He sounded so much like Andy that Alex found herself reaching out and planting a hand on his steel chasse out of longing.

"I'm going to bed. Can you get me up at 0600?" she asked, sinking down onto the bed. She didn't bother to change out of her jumpsuit and simply curled onto her side with one of the blankets. 

"Of course Madam, I am fully equipped to deal with-" Alex never found out who he was equipped to deal with for she fell asleep before Wadsworth even finished his sentence.


End file.
